Israel-Gaza: neither side should use anti-Semitism for political ends

Smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza CityPhoto: AP

3:36PM BST 30 Jul 2014

My father’s parents suffered for being Jews. They were both born in Vienna and, because of Hitler, were forced to abandon their homes and, quite literally, seek refuge elsewhere. My father is Jewish and I am proud to inherit his Jewishness. Contrary to Jewish ‘law’, I have always considered myself to be half-Jewish. In that capacity I feel perhaps more emotional about the debates thrown up by the conflict in Israel and Gaza on Twitter, Facebook and round the kitchen table, than I would simply in my capacity as a human being.

I have always kept an ear out for anti-Semitism and I have only once encountered openly anti-Semitic views in this country – and those were voiced by someone born elsewhere. But news of anti-Semitic demonstrations in Europe stir in me a visceral reaction. Against the backdrop of the violence in Gaza, protesters have chanted, “Jews to the gas chambers”. Synagogues have been attacked and the windows of Jewish-owned businesses have been smashed. In France, mobs have shouted, “Death to the Jews” and in Germany – of all places – hundreds of protesters apparently shouted, “Jew, Jew, cowardly pig, come on out and fight on your own.” An 18-year-old Jewish man claimed he had been punched in the face in the centre of Berlin while wearing a skull cap. In Belgium, a café displayed a sign banning Jews from entering.

Whatever the make-up of the people committing these crimes – whether or not they stretch beyond pro-Palestinian demonstrators to the traditional far right – these are scary reports. But, clear thinking should not be added to the list of victims of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. It is perfectly possible – and completely rational – to condemn anti-Semitic protests while also condemning Israel’s disproportionate use of force in Gaza. I just wish this was not a position that has to be spelt out and explained.

Some of my Jewish friends are opposed to what Israel is doing. But some have been surprised and even hurt by my condemnation on Facebook of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge. They could not understand why I am not supportive of Israel in what they see as a time of extreme need. So I tried to explain as follows. The Hamas rockets and tunnels clearly make daily life difficult, frightening and miserable for many Israelis. If, like me, you don’t live anywhere near the conflict zone, you can only imagine living with the fear of militants emerging from underground passageways on your doorstep. Of course I don't support these instruments of terror. And of course I am not an apologist for Hamas. Nor do I underestimate the huge challenge facing Israel in any search for a lasting and secure peace.

But Middle East politics is a messy moral maze. Israel’s campaign in Gaza is disproportionate. Even if, as has been alleged, Hamas are hiding themselves and their munitions among ordinary citizens, how can more than 1100 Gazans dead, many of them civilians, many of them children, be justified? Would you press the button on a bomb knowing it might very well kill a child? It has to stop. Leave aside the fact that Gazans live under a daily blockade and Palestinians in the West Bank live under the thumb of an occupying power. Leave aside the fact that there are Israeli settlements in the West Bank which are deemed illegal under international law. Quite apart from alienating friends and allies and crystallising swathes of international opinion against it, Israel’s acceptance of the deaths of children as collateral damage just isn’t good enough.

What about Syria? Israel’s defenders ask on social media. There have been many more Muslim-on-Muslim deaths in Syria, why is the world being so hard on Israel? This question suggests two things. One, that the world’s attention has not been focused on Syria and two, that if Syrians are killing each other in greater numbers we shouldn’t care so much about Israelis killing Palestinians. But the world has heard the cries of the Syrian dead (and should continue to do so even if a solution isn’t obvious). And, of course, Syria’s suffering, however great, should not deafen us to the fate of Gazan children.

The threat of anti-Semitism in Europe must not be used to delegitimize criticism of Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza. But neither must it be used as a blurred justification for its right to defend itself. Well-meaning opponents of Israeli behaviour must not be intimidated into silence by the charge of anti-Semitism. Israel is a now long-established and powerful democracy and we should expect – and demand – better of it. We must judge it on its actions. And, from an Israeli perspective, in both the short and the long run, meeting terror with terrifying bombardment will not work. Bombs breed hatred.

At the same time, there is, of course, never any excuse for anti-Semitism. The word means the hatred of or discrimination against Jews as a group. There are Jews who support Israel’s Gaza campaign and Jews who don’t. Israel must renounce its disproportionate use of force and the rest of us must see through the bitter smoke of a conflict that stretches from Gaza around the world and unmask anti-Semitism wherever we encounter it.